Unbaked

Last summer, when word spread of a new business opening up in the neighborhood surrounding Petco Park, residents in the area were excited. The new business would potentially occupy a space on a list of vacancies in the East Village.

Located on the 400 block of Tenth Avenue, Homies offered a combination of roller rink, outdoor pet café, restaurant, and a bakery specializing in cinnamon rolls.

“It was an interesting concept to combine all those things in one place,” recalled a resident. “We’ve grown tired, as a community, of seeing so many businesses close. We were definitely looking forward to seeing something new opening up.”

From the exterior, everything looked on course for the business to open by the projected date of August 29. In early fall, once their opening deadline had lapsed, it became obvious that things were not going well.

Butch Rose, the owner of the restaurant, made no effort to conceal the fact that he was experiencing delays in construction and, most importantly, running short of funding. By Christmas, the banner that announced the coming of the restaurant had disappeared.

Those close to Rose and familiar with the construction of the business said that the interior of the building had been gutted but work in the building would no longer continue. As of this month, the space that the restaurant was to occupy is once again vacant.

Comments

Do the words, "doomed from the start", mean anything to owner Butch Rose? He may not have heard those words while telling friends and relatives about his fine idea for a roller rink/Cinnabon, but I'd bet rollerskates to doughnuts, they were thinking just that.

Two years ago, my business partner and I looked into developing it for a doggy daycare center. We asked what the building had been used for originally. We were told it had been a dry cleaning establishment and that it would need a toxic clean up before it would be safe for dogs. The empty Pep Boys store on Market has the same problem; gas and grease toxins in the soil. A Rite Aid sign has been there for about 3 years.